Two day festival that my friend Tim told me about.
I went on Friday - only the locals were there. Lots of fun. Great atmosphere. Nice sunny day. On the first day, not a lot of hats.
Day two:
Still only locals I think. BUT lots of locals. And they came and went, so there was good turnaround. Beautiful day. Lots of kids. Lots of adults. Lots of crowds. Tim and I took turns performing and resting... so I think I did about 8 or 9 shows that day.
Had my biggest earnings so far, and I had a lot of fun.
It's also the most that I've ever performed nonstop. I was exhausted at the end of the day, so I'm grateful to my friend and housemate, Emmanuel, for taking care of dinner for me and two other friends when I got back.
I got my biggest crowds yet at this festival. I need to do more festivals, eh? It was warmer and there were more people out this day than there were at Trolley Tours last month. And that meant that my crowds were bigger.
I had more performance - and thus more hats - this time than I did at Trolley Tours. Each hat though was smaller. I don't know why that was the case... but I had a lot of fun, and I have a better view of what it's like to work all day out in the sun now that it's warmer and there are more crowds.
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Here's the Snapshot:
Friday 4/1
3:30pm: I show up early. The festival's not as big as I thought it would be. It's their first year - the "First Annual" Spring Fest. I wait in the car a little nervously. Tim isn't here yet, and I don't know if they're expecting me. Then I suck it up, take a deep breath, and hop out of the car with all my gear. I bring it. There is a stage for a band. I get nervous that they'll be really loud, so I try and pick a spot farther away from them. It's a little out of the way... but the place is small enough that I think people will stop by as long as they hear and see me. Ben, the festival organizer, tell me that the music will be soft - acoustic, mainly - and he asks me to move closer to the center. It's a better spot. I'm glad he did. And he was right. The music wasn't too loud.
4:00pm: Kids run up to me. They want to see a show. I do a couple of close-up card tricks to warm up. I tell them to come back later, and I'll do something bigger for them. Wait though, I said. Wait for a crowd.
4:15pm: Tim shows up. He sets up his table, and we chat a little bit. It's a nice day. We'll take turns performing. He focuses on practicing a little bit more. I do some more effects for the kids. Then an adult shows up. These people are with the festival. Whatever. I'll do the show for them.
I perform. I don't give them my hat line. They're kids, you see, and I didn't want to pressure the one adult. She wasn't here after all to watch. She was here to work. The kids like it though, and they keep on asking me to show them something more. I direct them to Tim, and Tim takes off with magic of his own.
5:00pm: I'm performing for a lot of kids. A lot of them are kids of the vendors and performers at the festival. They run around trying to sell brownies and cookies and things. There's a guy with a Revolutionary era rifle. It works. He's dressed up in a period outfit, and we talk a little bit. He wants to borrow my straitjacket for his son to wear five days of the week. Har har.
This is me performing the last third of my show. I've been strapped into my straitjacket. My mouth is in a funny shape... and I'm probably giving my main hat line right now.
It's a good time to let people know that I do this for a living - mainly because I'm already locked in tight. Not a lot of people want to walk away from a person in a straitjacket, surprisingly. Especially not if they know that I'm going to try and get out of it afterwards.
So there I am.
Yes. Many thanks to one of my housemates, Danielle, for taking that picture.
6:00pm: "Blah blah blah blah magic! Like Harry Potter! Who likes Harry Potter?" I ask.
"I'm not allowed to read Harry Potter," says the little boy.
"Oh," I say. I understand. I try not to push it... because he is a little boy, but then another boy - his name is Harrison - asks.
"Why?"
"Because," says the first boy, "I'm a Christian. And Harry Potter is about wizards and witches. I can't read that."
Harrison insists that the Harry Potter books are great. I move the show along. I remember that I'm far down south. People here are much more conservative than I am used to... and I remember this the rest of the day. I remember it when I'm joking, and I'm hoping that nobody gets insulted by any of my jokes.
That's why I choke a little every time I do my pickpocketing trick, and I ask about the weird little packet with the white balloon in it. You know, that one? The packet that's in a lot of guy's wallets? I mention it, and I hope no one is insulted. Some people laugh nervously. Other people smile uncomfortably. Maybe I shouldn't use that joke here again.
7:00pm: It's still light out. I've performed several shows. One of my bigger ones was for members of one of the bands that were performing. They enjoyed it, but even with the hat line they didn't want to give anything. It's tough, but the people are friendly. No one wants to pay for the show. It's mainly kids running around playing and talking to me. They're nice, so I have a lot of fun. I teach a shy little girl how to pull her thumb off. She makes her parents laugh.
7:30pm: It's not quite 9:00pm yet. No crowds, really. No one's showing up today. Tim's packing up and leaving. I decide to go too, and I realize I haven't eaten anything since about 12:30pm. I'm starving. I head home, eat dinner, and relax.
My total earnings for the day? $8.
I stay up late thinking about my show. I need to slow it down - slow down my patter, slow down my routine, slow down my presentation. I need to make everything clearer. I think.
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Saturday 4/2
9:30am: I get there late. I grabbed a yogurt parfait and oatmeal from McDonald's. I figured I could have the yogurt for breakfast and the oatmeal for lunch. I wasn't thinking very clearly, huh? Anyway. I'm there. Some of the vendors from Friday weren't there... and a couple ones came. They have a basketball hoop now and a tomahawk throwing range. It's cool. I set up next to a vendor who's selling books. I set up, and right away a girl comes up to me and tells me that she loves magic. Then she and her father set up their book-selling stand.
10:00am: Tim gets there after I do. He sets up in what I thought was a much nicer spot. Why didn't I think of that? I don't know. I was determined, I guess, to go back to where I was yesterday... and I forget that the vendor that was there yesterday wasn't there today. It's ok. He sets up, and we decide to take turns again. Because of his location, people go to his spot first when they come in. That is, they go to his spot after they've gotten their funnel cakes and corn dogs from the big food stand.
10:30am: My first performance. I have some trouble starting out. I'm nervous about the crowd-building part. I start off with some card tricks to build a crown. Really quickly - really quickly - people come up to watch. Once these close-up effects get a decently sized crowd, I go into my show. My show lasts twenty minutes. My crowd grows. I get a couple dollars from those who watched from the beginning... Some people come in late. They see my straitjacket escape, and they come in close. I tell them to come back again to see the show from the beginning. Now that they've seen the last act, they do. They come again later, and I have a good turnaround rate.
1:00pm: I break for lunch. I grab my oatmeal, eat, and think. Good morning. Not great, but good. I know how to gather a crowd now for each show. I just need to make an announcement, and people come. A guy with a dog takes my card, and tells me to go to a Starbucks that evening - he works there, he says, and I should stop by for some coffee when I'm done. I wonder if this is going to happen every time I go out and perform.
2:00pm: I find the perfect guy to do my pickpocketing routine with. He's funny, and the crowd laughs and grows because of him. A deck of cards is in his back pocket. I stare at it. Everyone stares. I comment:
"Yeah, that's right. Stare at his backside."
Everyone laughs.
Then he flexes his gluts. I blink. Everyone laughs more. He's a good sport.
I reach into his pocket, pull out the chosen card. Everyone is surprised. He smiles.
"You're enjoying this a little too much," I tell him.
Then a little girl jumps forward and grabs the box out of his pocket. My jaw drops.
"What? Do you know him?" I ask the little girl, and everyone laughs again.
She does. My opening is funny. People laugh, so more people come.
When I'm doing my straitjacket finale, and I'm trying to get a little girl to help me push my arm over my head, he comes back and offers to help me. He's awfully eager, I tell him. More laughter.
At the end of that show, after my hat is filled - and that was one of my better hats - he's gone. I don't get the chance to thank him fully for being a great sport.
Yeah. I had a nice little crowd around me. I had a bunch of really good-sized crowds like this one on the second day. That's another picture with me in the straitjacket. I need to thank the festival organizers for taking and putting up this picture on Facebook.
3:00pm: I run into a fairly tough crowd. This isn't my fault, and it isn't the audience's fault. My starting audience has at least two or three people who are deaf. I don't realize this until after I have selected one of them as a volunteer. When I do, I do my best to look at him and speak slowly so that he would understand. The show moves along, but I feel bad for making it difficult for these guys to participate. They are a good audience though, and I think they enjoyed the show.
4:00pm: I text my friends. Are they coming? I asked. They said they would. This would be one of the last chances - probably the last chance - that they would have to see me perform. I start to worry that they won't come. I push on. The show must go on.
5:00pm: I'm performing for another good-sized crowd. I am doing my straitjacket finale again. I'm giving my hat line... and all of a sudden my words stumble. I spot Emmanuel's face in the crowd. He is one of my house mates. I didn't think that he would make it, but he is there. I shake my head, pull my words together, and go on. I'm happy, and he saw that. I end the show on a high note.
Then two more people showed up. My other house mate, Danielle, and another friend and former colleague of mine, Loide. I am ecstatic to see them. We talk, then Tim gives a show. My friends go and watch Tim's show while I get ready for my next. I relax. Watch. And then talk some more. I look around. There. New people new crowd. New show.
5:30pm: My last show ends with my voice cracking. A band starts playing during my finale, and I have to shout out my hat line. Jokes get lost, and my voice gets weirdly high-pitched. The show goes along all right, but I end the day with a smaller hat than the other shows. That's ok. I've had a great day, and my friends were there to watch. I got some good feedback: Most of it has to do with learning to project my voice better.
I will do that. I need to learn how to project my voice, or I need to get a wireless mic. One is free, and one costs money. So I think I'll learn to project my voice.
6:00pm: I go home. Emmanuel cooks a Ghanaian dish, and the four of us feast. For the first time in a long time, I pass out before midnight.
And for the first time ever, I broke a hundred that day. I've never worked that hard, physically before. I am exhausted, but I am proud and happy.
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Sunday 4/3
I go to Overton Park to perform.
Lots of people. There are other performers, but they aren't buskers. There are drummers, hula hoopers, and acrobats. I watch and set up on the sidewalk. I should have set up on the grass... but I don't know if it would have helped much. Most people were lying down enjoying the sun - not even gathering around the acrobats or the drummers, really, though they watched from afar.
I relax and hang out with people there. No show, really. That's ok.
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And that is the end of this three-day snapshot. As always, suggestions, comments, and criticisms are appreciated. Until next time.
